I struggled with what to call this post and the similar ones to follow this week. These are bands and records I missed out on in 2008. By and large they’re undiscovered and unheralded gems. They may have made a mark in their individual genres but they had nary a mention on the mp3 blog circuit (at least according to Elbo.ws)
Drew Emmitt’sLong Road should have appeared in these virtual pages sometime in early 2008. There’s no excuse for the delay given that this is a sterling, and crystal clear example of the new grass hybrid that I’m so fond of. Doubly so given that Drew is the lead singer/mandolinist of popular jamgrass band Leftover Salmon.
Charlie Haden may well be the best living bass player. But like Bill Frisell or Yo Yo Man he hasn’t ever settled to be simply the best at his instrument. Instead he’s explored different genre’s, textures and styles of music. He has used his music as both a personal and at times political platform. His new project is Charlie Haden Family & Friends’ Ramblin’ Boy.
If this note perfect rendition of the Carter Family song “Single Girl, Married Girl” is any indication Ramblin’ Boy sounds like a real gem. If you’re a fan of guests than you’ll be happy to know this one features the Haden triplets, Jack Black, Elvis Costello, Bruce Hornsby and Roseanne Cash. Amazon has a seven minute “making of” video here. And you can buy the record from Amazon here.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about today. I’ve got a couple half finished posts I could have completed or I could have just taken the day off. Then I rechecked my email inbox and discovered that something in there would fit perfectly on Songs:Illinois.
The Washington, DC based roots band the Junior League Band have a new record out on September 30. Lissy Rosemont is the front woman and the driving force in the band (the press release states that it’s her banjo in the new song by Missy Elliott). Her take on life and the female perspective in these songs is a pleasant switch from the male dominated roots music scene.
The new record, Mitchell Williams Fo Govena, is out on Sept. 30 but you can pre-order it here. There’s a record release party at The Black Cat On Oct. 4.
One of the best records I’ve heard all the way through in the newgrass/bluegrass/alt-country style is from the Brooklyn based band Yarn. The bulk of the songs on the new record, while not completely traditional, are acoustic based mid-tempo numbers accented by fiddle and mandolin. As a result this record doesn’t rawk, though it does reel quite nicely.
The appropriately titled “Can’t Slow Down” is one of the most up tempo songs on here. But the slower songs are standouts as well - particularly the ones featuring guest vocalists Edie Brickell and Caitlin Cary.
I’ve been including a newgrassy song each and every week for as long as I can remember. Whether it’s The Duhks or Crooked Still or even The Felice Brothers I’ve tried to be a proponent of this style of music for the last few years. So now I feel like I can’t ignore this genre and the once weekly feature.
Red Molly’s new cd Love and Other Tragedies has been out since May but I’ve only just heard it. You can pick it up now through Amazon here. “Wichita” is a nice cover of the Gilian Welch tune of the same name.
The LA Times did a piece on former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman Howard Wolfson. Surprisingly it had little to do with politics and more to do with his love of indie rock. We’re all music snobs here, right? We all think we’ve got better taste than our friends, our enemies, and certainly any talking heads on TV. So it hurts me to say this but that dude’s got some pretty fine taste in music. His music blog is still young (Gotham Acme) but it came out of the gate nicely formed (the header’s got cool and original art, cool blogroll, and a working search function). He covers some tired ground in posts about TV On The Radio and Grizzly Bear but makes up for it with posts on BLK, Francois Breut, and Kelly McRae. Also any mention of The Feelies is always appreciated by me.
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George Wirth has a song on the new Red Molly cd. If the music business was a fair and balanced competition, where the best songs come out on top, you’d have probably have heard of NJ’s George Wirth by now. But if this is your first time enjoy these two songs from his debut.
This weekend we headed out to Six Flags Great America. We had a great time going on every roller coaster my 7 year old could tolerate (and a few he couldn’t)! As a result the usually stellar writing you’ve become acquainted to at S:I may suffer this week. But as I’ve said before the music will always sparkle.
The Duhks have a new record, Fast Paced World, coming out August 19 on Sugarhill. The band has been hailed as one of those at the forefront of the new folk movement. From what I’ve heard and from this one song the band is exploring more unusual sounds and song styles. There’s a a certain world music/gypsy sound that the band is flirting with that I like very much. Expect a bunch of traditionalists to become even more dismayed than usual about the band’s new sound.
You can hear this newly refined sound on the song “This Fall” below.
Pre-order the new record here.
My definition of bluegrass for this occasional theme day is very broad. Hell, if it’s mostly all acoustic and even has an inkling of Kentucky, the Appalachian mountains or Bob Wills than it’s ripe for posting. The new record from Erin McDermott conjures up the mountains of Vermont instead (her home state), but otherwise this record is rife with acoustic picking and yearning bluegrass-gospel inspired vocals.
“Fowler Farm” is one of the standout tracks on the new record and I have both the album version and a stripped down live take from WGDR’s fundraiser.
I’ve been writing so much about this new string band renaissance I think I’m just about out of words to describe the music on Still Crooked the new record from Crooked Still out on Signature Sounds out on June 24.
On the song “Pharoah” the band mines a slightly gothic, darker sound to accompany the ghostly vocals (and subject matter) of lead singer Aoife O’Donovan. Pre-order this record now here through Amazon.
Stairwell Sisters are an all woman acoustic bluegrassy juggernaut from San Francisco. This, their third recording, has been produced by the great Lloyd Maines. The band’s name comes from the fact the two founders perfected their harmonies by practicing in a stairwell (great reverb in there dont’ cha know!?).
“Shuffle And Shine” chronicles the hard times of a shoe shiner the band recently encountered. With lines like “Landlord’s back at my front door…what I wouldn’t do for a steady paycheck…” and its depression era string band sound in this age of near or full-on recession, when a shortage of “good” jobs looms, and the housing crisis just keeps getting worse and worse it’s as topical as anything Woody et al composed.
The new record, Get Off Your Money, is available here now.
They don’t call NJ “The Garden State” for nothing. Parts of the state are as beautiful, green and lush as the famed blue grass of Kentucky. So then it should come as no surprise that one of the rising stars of newgrass (for want of a better term) is Railroad Earth from Stillwater, NJ.
Amen Corner is the new record out June 10 on Sci Fidelity (their previous two records were on the revered roots label Sugar Hill). The single is the jam band friendly tune “Hard Livin’” and while the song is certainly catchy enough and is probably indicitive of their energetic live show, it’s the more subdued song “Been Down This Road” that caught my ear. Pre-order the new record here.
P.S. Video commenting is now enabled. It’s easy to do but no one’s given it a try yet. I’d love to see a couple comments just to see if it works and if it’s worth keeping.
I’m not completely sold on all the young newgrassy bands (how `bout you?). Crooked Still, The Duhks and others just leave me a little cold. The music is pristine and shiny, but at times lacks the passion of less acclaimed and even less purely talented groups.
One of the most acclaimed young groups that stradle this line between polished bluegrass and down to earth country is Nashville’s Infamous Stringdusters. They’ll be releasing their new record on Sugar Hill In June. The guys in the `Dusters can certainly play, and that, along with their age and scruffy appearance, are a few of the reasons the band is treated more like a jam band than a bluegrass band on the road.
So here’s “You Can’t Handle The Truth” from the sophomore long player from the Infamous Stringdusters. Compare and contrast with the Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee song below.
What perfect timing. Here’s an example of an English band playing traditional American music just for kicks around the kitchen table. Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee is the name of Darren Hayman’s bluegrass inspired americana group. Darren Hayman is the former front man for the English cult pop group Hefner. So this will receive a wider release than your “typical” London bluegrass band; it’ll be out on Fortuna POP! via Cargo and iTunes on May 6 (today!).
They literally recorded this around the kitchen table in Darren’s flat. It’s probably a purist’s nightmare and is no doubt riddled with miscues and off key singing. But there’s something to this. The lyrics are original and address topics that are more relevant cold Appalachian winters and/or moonshine stills. So again compare this with the song above and see what you think.
Buy it now here. Here’s the song “Sly and the Family Stone”
The ratio of discs received to discs actually written about here at Songs:Illinois is about 100 to 1. That is, if we receive 100 discs we actually getting around to writing about only one. The latest that made the grade is the new record of Louvin Brothers covers by the Lawrence based duo known as Drakkar Sauna.
These guys are known for their avant-traditional country sounds. But on this disc they play these Louvin Brother’s classics straight up. Why do a faithful cover of these songs? I’m going to guess it’s because of the timelessness of the material. A song like “The Family Who Prays” sounds like it’s ripped from the talk show circuit seeing that it describes the decline of the American family and also addresses the pain of war; a topic that is increasingly a mainstay for American families. The Pitch’s blog, Wayward Blog, is all over this as well here with another song from the new record, tour dates and some insight into the band.
The new record is called Wars and Tornadoes and is available through Marriage Records here.
I threatened a regular “Bluegrass Tuesday” feature last week and nobody complained, in fact two of you said bring it on. You may be sorry for being so encouraging. This may not continue past this week because in the whole recorded history of traditional American folk music I can’t imagine there being many cases of remixes, let alone a remix with Arnold Schwarzenegger voice added to the mix. And I know you guys can be pretty stiff and unforgiving.
“Hoss Race” is a song from Tim O’Brien’s new record Chameleon. Tim O’Brien is ex Hot Rize and a wonderful songwriter, picker and singer (wrote about him here). Below one of the new songs off of Chameleon has been given the remix treatment by former Bad Livers leader and Songs:Illinois favorite Danny Barnes (here, here). The mix is a little rough and choppy at times (Danny’s no Justice), but the gist of the remix reminds me of Moby’s early hits where he sampled traditional gospel and blues and added a beat creating a very modern sound rooted in tradition.
I should probably have a “Bluegrass Tuesday” to go along with my occasional honky-tonk Friday, but I won’t. The truth is I’m not a huge fan of traditional bluegrass, although I do love what all these new groups are doing with its bones. Dime Box Band is an all woman bluegrass inspired outfit led by singer Kristi Callan.
“Betsy” is one of the 10 originals off of the bands upcoming record Five and Dime Waltz. “Betsy” features Kristi’s great vocals and some beautiful harmony vocals from the rest of the band. The music is sparse with the mandolin being the most noteworthy instrument in the mix. The band has a record release show at Taix in L.A. on April 5.
P.S. I’ve just updated the comments section with software called Disqus. It allows for more of a conversation than just simply random comments. Give it a try!
Kathy Mattea is the type/kind/caliber of country star that I usually wouldn’t write about on Songs:Illinois. But as the recording industry collapses all around us some country artists seem to have eschewed the Nashville sound and embraced the sound of real country; country rooted in the sounds of bluegrass, the Appalachian Mountains, and the hills of Virginia. I’m sure there are plenty of examples of this, but what comes to mind first is Patty Loveless’ excellent 1991 record Mountain Soul.
On Coal, Kathy Mattea’s new concept record written about both the personal and environmental costs of the rise and now fall of the coal mining industry, she embraces her bluegrass and celtic music roots. These songs about a destructive and dangerous industry are balanced by the fact that so many generations of families worked in and in some cases prospered from working the mines. There’s a bittersweet tug of war going on here, between the modern sense that this industry destroyed the environment (and the lungs of it’s workers) and the fact that the coal mines were a huge part of many people’s lives.
I think the song “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” is both a good example of this theme, as well as a great bluegrass inspired workout. Kathy Mattea will be playing the Old Town School Of Folk Music on April 19. Her new record is available as a pre-order here.
Chatham County Line have made a great record. It’s one I wasn’t going to mention just because I assumed so many other music blogs would have written about it by now. But so far nothing. Out on March 4 on Yep Roc, IV continues the bluegrass based americana that the band is known for except that on the single “Chip Of A Star” the band sounds more like the roots pop of The Avett Brothers than the traditional bluegrass of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley et al.
It’s a beautiful song that wouldn’t be out of place on an Avett Brothers record or an acoustic side project by Wilco. The band plays SXSW on Thursday night March 13 at 11pm at The Continental Club (a perfect venue for the band; not always the case at SXSW). This will be where I’m heading the moment I get in to Austin (luggage and all!). Pre-order IVhere.
Sid Griffin, he of the 80’s country-punk group The Long Ryders, keeps pretty busy with all his musical projects, but it’s his latest group’s release, Turn the Water On, Boy!, by The Coal Porters that should get him the most attention since the late 80’s. The Coal Porters is the group that Sid formed in England with fellow Long Ryder alumns and Chris Hillman from The Byrds on mandolin. They are a pretty traditional sounding bluegrass group, but with both his and Chris Hillman’s musical history they have been attracting a diverse following. The band is pretty content to stay in the UK where they have a bunch of spring dates up on their site, but it sure would be a treat to get them to the states.
Below is a Sid Griffin original about Woody Gutherie that’s kinda cool and a cover of the Gene Clark classic “Silver Raven”. You can also hear what their live show sounds like below and don’t miss the wacky bluegrass cover of “My Generation”.
You can buy the digital release here through Amazon.
Final Wild Sun (The Coal Porters covering The Long Ryders) My Generation (yes, this is a bluegrass version of The Who’s classic) Just Like Tom Thumb Blues (The Long Ryders live from their reunion tour with opening act Greg Trooper handling the vocals)
I’m a big fan of Michael Holland. I’m not conversant on all of his releases (or those of his former band Jennyandkind) or on his different musical influences but when I hear his music I’m immediately impressed. His song 2005 song “Crystal Meth Freak From California” somehow married a topical story of a life gone bad via drugs with bluegrass-inspired, modern mountain music. It’s not such a stretch really if you acknowledge that in the south Meth is the new moonshine.
I don’t hear anything as shockingly immediate as “Crystal Meth Freak” in the songs from the new record, Simple Truths and Pleasures, but the songs I’ve heard are in a way more immediate. Some of the musical backing is provided once again by The Big Fat Gap Bluegrass Band from NC and the bulk of the record was recorded live in the studio. “Life of Ease” is a personal take on the desire for a simpler, better life. A life that, with the oncoming recession, just isn’t possible for many people anymore.
Find out more about the new record and buy it here through Forced Exposure.
Glad you found me at my new url. Songs:Illinois is committed to writing about music that is under-appreciated and unique. I've found that the music I write about shares a couple of traits. And they are: lyrical integrity, musically diverse, and written/performed by compelling characters.
Most songs found here are free and legal and have been provided by either the artist or label. If for some reason you'd like to have a song removed, please email me at cbonnell (at) gmail.com.
